Cruel, Cruel Summer
by writeallnight
Summary: Deeks and Kensi are giving vacation another shot this summer. The couple heads to Hawaii with dreams of blue skies, sandy beaches, and romance. But trouble always seems to find them even when they're trying to avoid it.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Happy summer everybody! Summer is my favorite so I just had to send our favorite couple on another vacation this year. Hopefully this one goes a little better for them! (Spoiler alert: It probably won't...)

* * *

"Aloha! Welcome to the Wailea Beach Resort!" A cheerful employee greeted Kensi and Deeks as they stepped out of the hotel shuttle.

Kensi accepted the lei that was placed around her neck, taking in the high ceilings of the lobby, the windows on the far side through which you could see the pool and beyond that the ocean. The air smelled of flowers and coconut. She turned back to Deeks and smiled. "We made it."

He adjusted his backpack. "We certainly did."

After last year's vacation disaster they'd almost decided not to make another attempt. But after some prolonged research on destinations and a fair amount of begging on Kensi's part, they'd decided that a trip to familiar turf would eliminate some of the potential disasters. So Hawaii it was and after a brief, incident free flight, they'd made their way to the resort with relative ease.

Another employee walked over to where they waited in line, a tray of drinks in her hand. "Rum punch?" she asked.

"If we just keep 'em coming we'll be too plastered to deal with any illegal activity," Deeks said as he took one for each of them.

Kensi took a sip and felt her shoulders begin to unwind. "Promise me, no undercover agents, no basement shootouts this year."

"No head trauma," he cautioned.

"No illegal weapons."

"No motorcycle chases through the city."

Kensi thought for a second. "Actually that was pretty fun."

"Next!" called the desk clerk.

"Hi, the reservation is under Blye," Kensi said as they stepped up to the counter.

"All right." The woman clicked her mouse several times and smiled. "Congratulations. It turns out you're eligible for a free upgrade with a Jacuzzi and an ocean view."

"See?" Kensi said to her partner. "Already better than last year."

"Definitely," he agreed.

"Here are your key cards. You're in room 412," the clerk said brightly. "Pool hours are from 8:00am-10:00pm and breakfast is from 6:00am-10:00am. Enjoy!"

It took a bit of shuffling to get their luggage upstairs since Kensi "Always-Be-Prepared" Blye had brought an extra suitcase along "just in case" but at last Deeks tipped the bellhop and closed the door, locking it tightly behind him.

"Babe, come look at the Jacuzzi!" Kensi called from the bathroom.

He met her in the doorway and immediately cradled her face, pressing his lips to hers. She smiled. "What was that for?"

"I'm just really happy we're here."

"Me too. You ready to go explore the hotel?"

"I had a different kind of exploring in mind."

He moved his lips to her neck and she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist as he moved them to the King sized bed.

They were extremely involved in that exploration when the lock on the door clicked.

"Oh my god!" Kensi gasped.

Deeks rolled onto his back and looked toward the door. "What the hell?"

The door slammed open, catching hard against the security door guard.

"I think somebody's trying to get in," Kensi said.

"You _think_?" Deeks asked incredulously.

"Hello?" a voice called through the crack. "Is somebody in there?"

Deeks swore as Kensi wrapped the sheets around her body. He grabbed one side and pulled but she pulled back harder. "Why do you get the sheets?" he hissed.

"Because I'm the girl! Put some pants on and do something!" she hissed back.

Deeks located his discarded boxers and made his way to the door as Kensi searched in vain for her shirt. "Are you presentable?" he asked.

"Not really!"

"Hello?!" the voice yelled again.

Deeks undid the deadbolt and pulled the door open a crack. "Hi, can I help you?" he asked.

A young couple, close to their own age, stood on the other side of the door. "Um…this is our room," the man said.

Deeks squinted at him. "This is room 412."

"Yes, which is our room," the woman said.

"Well we just checked in and were given the keys to this room so…" Deeks looked at them meaningfully and began to close the door.

"Our suitcases are already in here," the man insisted. "We checked in a couple hours ago."

"We didn't see any suitcases," Deeks said in confusion. What was wrong with these people?

"Don't let them in! I can't find my pants!" Kensi whispered desperately.

"If you let us in we can show you," the woman said.

Deeks turned around. "You'd better do something fast because they're coming in."

Kensi squeaked and hustled to the closet, pulling on the bathrobe she found there. Then she looked down. "Oh crap."

"What?" Deeks asked.

Kensi pulled out a suitcase. "I think this is their room."

Deeks opened the door fully and let them enter. "God, I am so sorry. I don't know what happened," he said.

"I'm just glad we're not crazy," the woman said. "For a moment I wasn't sure."

"Well obviously the desk made a mistake," Kensi said, flustered.

"Why don't we um, head down and fix that while you…" the man let his sentence hang and Kensi pulled the robe tighter around her body.

They met down in the lobby moments later with far more clothes on. The other couple was already talking with the desk clerk who looked shocked. "I'm so sorry," she was saying as Kensi and Deeks approached. "I don't know how this could have happened."

"Well it did," Deeks said. "So we're going to need to fix it because, quite frankly, we're not looking for roommates right now."

A manager was called over as the two couples stood awkwardly by the counter trying not to make eye contact. The manager clicked a few keys as well and then grimaced. "So we seem to have to had a computer glitch that allowed both of you to check into the same room."

"How is that possible?" Kensi asked.

"Well your reservation," she pointed to the other couple, "is under Katrina Bligh, and yours is under Kensi Blye." She spelled the last names. "The computer only shows them as your last name and first initial. I'm not sure why it allowed you the room to be checked into twice. I'm so sorry, we will fix this immediately and of course comp both of you a night of your stay. Miss Blye," she pointed to Kensi, "we can get you a different room on the same floor."

"That's fine," Kensi said.

They received their new keycards and then both couples took to the elevator.

"So," Katrina finally said, "I'm Katrina. This is Sebastian."

"Kensi," Kensi introduced herself. "And Deeks."

"We're uh, really sorry that we—" Sebastian couldn't seem to find the rest of the words he wanted.

Deeks shook his head. "No worries. Not your fault."

The doors slid open and they exited together. "Well it was nice to meet you," Katrina told them when they had reached room 412.

"Same here," Kensi said.

"What's our new room number?" Deeks asked as they walked past their old room.

Kensi glanced at the card packet. "Oh come on."

She handed it to Deeks. In bold numbering it said 414. "Lovely. We're neighbors. That's not going to make things awkward at all."

They shuffled their luggage into the new room, which looked exactly the same as the old one. "So," Deeks said when they'd finally made it inside, "feel like picking up where we left off?"

"Not really."

"Yeah I figured that was too much to hope for. Explore the hotel fully clothed instead?"

She smiled. "What could go wrong with that?"

* * *

A/N: Fun fact, the accidental double check-in was inspired by something that happened to my cousin and her husband on their honeymoon. It was too good not to include! Updates soon, I promise! Leave your love in the reviews!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: The adventure continues my friends! Enjoy!

* * *

"Oh my god I'm starving. Are you ready yet?" Deeks asked from where he stood in front of the mirror, adjusting his tie.

"That depends. Are you done whining yet?" she called from the bathroom.

"Okay we need to go. You're clearly getting hangry. Whatever you've got on is coming back off again in two hours anyway."

She stepped out of the bathroom and put a hand on her hip, raising her eyebrows. "Really? Is that all you can think about? Getting my clothes off?"

The wine colored dress she was wearing had a deep v in the front and the back dipped all the way to her hips. It didn't leave a whole lot to the imagination. He swallowed. "Well now it is."

She smiled and sauntered toward him. "Good." She pressed her lips to his cheeks. "Then you can think about it for two hours while I eat as much seafood as I can fit into this dress."

She walked to the door, leaving him gaping. "You are a mean, mean lady," he said.

The restaurant was beautiful. Floor to ceiling windows displayed the sun setting over the beach, the entire scene becoming a piece of living art. "Name?" the hostess asked.

"It's under Blye," Kensi said, tucking her arm into Deeks'.

The hostess frowned. "First name?"

"Kensi? With a 'K'."

She frowned again. "It seems you've already checked in for your reservation."

"But we just got here," Deeks said.

"I'm sorry but the table has been taken."

Kensi looked past the hostess and rolled her eyes. "Oh come on."

She pointed and Deeks followed her finger to a table where their next-door neighbors were already sitting. "Seriously?" Deeks asked.

"Here's the deal," Kensi said to the host, "there are two K. Blyes staying here this weekend. We had the same mix-up earlier with the room. It's fine. No big deal. We'll just take a different table."

"I'm sorry but we're completely booked. We require reservations at least a month in advance."

"Right, yeah, but clearly this was your mistake. Both couples made a reservation and you only kept one. So you must have a table we can use," Deeks insisted.

"As I said I'm sorry but we are completely booked tonight. I can recommend some take-out places nearby or room service."

"Seriously? We got all dressed up for this and the best you can do is take-out from somewhere else?" Deeks asked, clearly annoyed.

"Uh, hi!" Sebastian approached. "Sorry, we couldn't help but overhearing. Why don't you just join us for tonight?"

"Oh, no," Kensi said quickly. "We don't want to spoil your evening."

"It's no problem," he said. "Please, we've clearly caused you problems more than once today. Don't let this ruin your night."

Kensi and Deeks looked at one another. Deeks shrugged. "I mean, I'm starving."

"Okay well then, thanks. Yes, we'll join you," Kensi said.

They walked with him to the table and took the two unoccupied chairs. "Hi," Katrina said. "I'm so sorry about all of this."

"I'm sorry we've invaded your trip twice now," Kensi said.

"We ordered a bottle of red. Is that all right?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah we're not picky," Deeks said.

The wine was poured, helping to dispel some of the awkwardness of the situation. Kensi and Deeks quickly learned that their neighbors were both IT workers at a company in Seattle. They'd met at work and were here for an IT event, extending their stay for a little couple's time, which made Kensi feel even worse that they'd managed to cross paths in such an annoying way. Clearly they'd come here to be alone and she and Deeks were stepping right into their carefully made plans.

"So," Katrina said as they passed bread around the table, "what about the two of you?"

"I'm a personal trainer," Kensi said quickly. If she let her partner run with the play he'd pick something ridiculous like a Terminator Tag-team (they were both former Olympic athletes turned juice bar owners) or a Reverse Peter Pan (she'd grown up on the streets running her own gang until he'd stepped in and saved her from a life of crime). Instead she picked a simple Gym Rat Roll. Easy, safe, and they'd done it three weeks ago on assignment. "Deeks works in finance and he came in three years ago. It was love at first sight."

"And on the weekends we do competitive ballroom dancing," Deeks added, reaching across the table to hold her hand.

He could never just go with the path of least resistance. She smiled at him while pinching his leg underneath the table for adding a Tango Twist. He jumped almost imperceptibly and trapped her hand with his own so she couldn't do it again.

"That's so sweet," Katrina said. "I'd love some tips if you have them. I keep meaning to get a good gym routine going and I just never seem to have the time."

"It's definitely tough," Kensi said, wrenching her hand away from her partner so hard that the table rattled. "Whoops. Sorry."

"So competitive ballroom, what's that like?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah baby, tell them what it's like," Kensi said sweetly.

"Oh look appetizers!" Deeks said as the servers approached, winking at her when the rest of the group wasn't looking.

She tried and failed to hold in her smile. He was the worst, and damn it she loved him for it.

The evening was more fun than they'd expected given that they'd accidentally ended up dining with near strangers who'd already caught them in a compromising position. Katrina and Sebastian were young, smart, and easy to talk to, so conversation flowed as easily as the wine. By the time they finished dessert and headed upstairs Kensi found herself a little tipsy. "Thank you," Kensi said as they reached their respective doors. "I hope we didn't spoil your night too much."

"No we had a great time," Sebastian said with a smile. "You guys enjoy your evening and we'll probably see you tomorrow when they mess up our cabana rental reservations."

"Hey if they do, drinks are on us," Deeks said. "Have a good night."

"You too," Katrina echoed.

The moment they entered the room Kensi fastened her lips to Deeks'. "Wanna finish what we started before?" she asked when they came up for air.

She took the way his hands immediately found the zipper on her dress as a yes.

She woke at 4:00am, her body still entwined with his. She blinked, unsure of what had pulled her from sleep at such an early hour. There was a loud thump from next door and Deeks snorted himself awake. "Hey," she said softly, still pillowed on his chest.

"You all right?" he asked, rubbing her back, his eyes still closed.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah what's going on?"

"It's coming from Katrina and Sebastian's room."

There was another thump and then nothing. "We probably shouldn't ask considering how they found us yesterday. I think we know enough about each other's private lives," Deeks said.

"Yeah, I guess."

He kissed the top of her head and shifted until he was comfortable, then drifted back to sleep. Kensi listened for a while longer, but all was silent. Eventually she fell asleep too and didn't wake again until morning.

* * *

A/N: Ooh, so mysterious! I wonder what's going to happen? :) Leave your love in the reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for all the love you've given this story so far! The plot is about to thicken even more! Enjoy!

* * *

Kensi woke early and nudged her sleeping partner. "I'm going to the gym," she murmured. "Do you want to come?"

He moaned and wrapped his arms around her. "Noooooo. Stay here."

"I'll be back soon." She kissed him and slipped out of his embrace.

"It's cold!" he groused, pulling the blankets around him even more tightly.

She dressed quickly, rolling out her neck and shoulders as she headed for the elevator. The doors were almost closed when Katrina slipped inside, her head low.

"Morning," Kensi said, her voice friendly.

"Morning." Katrina didn't look up, instead swiping a hand across her eyes.

Kensi felt a trickle of suspicion run down her spine. "Did you guys have a good night?"

"It was fine." Katrina's voice sounded strained and she continued to keep her eyes pointedly on the floor. Her fingers fiddled anxiously with the hem of her shirt.

"Katrina," Kensi couldn't help herself, "are you okay?"

She looked up as they hit the first floor. Kensi could see her eyes were red and what looked like bruises around her throat. "Yeah, everything's fine."

She hurried out of the elevator before Kensi could process it all. Those bruises hadn't been there last night. Sebastian hadn't struck her as the abusive type, but if she'd learned anything in her time in law enforcement it was that abusers took all shapes and forms. The thumps they'd heard in the middle of the night suddenly took on new meaning and Kensi felt sick. She resisted the urge to take the elevator back upstairs and punch Sebastian directly in the face, instead heading to the gym to take her anger out on the equipment instead.

When she headed back upstairs nearly an hour later she still felt furious. The room next door seemed quiet as she passed by and once again she had to resist the urge to knock on the door. "Hey," Deeks said as she walked into their suite. "How was the gym?"

"I think that asshole next door beat up his wife last night," Kensi said furiously, stalking to the bathroom for a towel.

"Oookay," Deeks said. "Not the answer to my question. What makes you think that?"

"I saw her on my way to the gym. She was crying and there were bruises around her neck. Someone needs to go teach that guy a lesson."

"I'm not saying you're wrong," Deeks said cautiously. "But is there any chance at all that maybe they have a…spicy sex life?"

She glared at him. "A sex life that's so good it makes her cry in public?"

"Fair point. I'm just saying we don't know anything for sure. And it's not really any of our business."

"She's hurt Deeks! How is that not our business?"

"All right, all right." Deeks could tell he wasn't going to get anywhere with this tack. "What do you want to do? Call the police? Go over there?"

"I mean yeah, all of that."

"And how do you think that's going to make Katrina feel besides attacked and defensive?"

"I know it's not the right choice, I'm just saying that what I want is to kick the crap out of that guy."

"I understand. How about if we see Katrina again we offer to help? In a kind, supportive way that doesn't feel like an attack."

She sat down next to him on the bed. "Solid plan partner." She kissed his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too." His fingers were winding their way into her hair and she knew breakfast would have to wait.

By the time they made it downstairs it was definitely closer to brunch than breakfast. They opted for something from the Starbucks in the lobby that they could take out to the beach. The line was long so Deeks offered to wait while Kensi headed outside to save them a spot.

He'd placed their order and was waiting to pick it up when he saw Katrina, rushing through lobby, an iPad and several files in her hand. As he watched she tripped on the corner of the carpet, sending everything flying across the space. It was a perfect opportunity.

He reached her side and began gathering up all her stray belongings. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine I just, I have to get these back upstairs," she said, her voice shaking.

She looked pale and Deeks could see the bruises that had sent his partner into such a rage earlier that morning. "Katrina," he began, "is everything all right?"

"Yes, it's fine," she said, shoving paper back into folders as fast as she could.

"Kensi said she saw you this morning and you didn't seem right."

"Thank you for your help."

She tugged the iPad out of his hands and he tried once more. "Katrina, listen, I know we don't know each other but if there's something going on, Kensi and I would like to help."

Her eyes met his and he saw the near panic there. "No, thank you, I have to go," she said quickly and then she was off for the elevator again.

Deeks watched her go, a growing sense of discomfort washing over him. Something was very wrong with their new friend. "Martin!" the barista yelled, shaking him out of his thoughts.

He grabbed their food and headed outside, spotting Kensi at a far cabana, already sunning herself in a bikini that would normally have put him in a spectacular headspace. Instead he handed her coffee without speaking, his mind still inside. "What's up?" Kensi asked.

He explained what he'd just seen. "I told you," she said when he finished. "Something weird is going on."

"Don't those guys we helped with the smallpox thing work on the islands?" Deeks asked. "Is it worth it to call them?"

"I don't know," Kensi said. "I don't want to get them involved if it's nothing."

"Yeah," Deeks looked out at the water. "I guess we can just wait, see if something else comes up."

"I guess." She settled back into her lounge chair, sipping her coffee. "It wouldn't hurt to just have Nell and Eric run a background check, right?"

"Nah, it couldn't hurt."

"They're both clean," Nell told them an hour later. "Nothing on their records, not even a misdemeanor."

"No history of domestic violence? No police reports? Nothing?" Deeks asked.

"Not even a parking ticket," Eric said. "They're as clean as the two of you."

Kensi shook her head. "This doesn't make any sense. Something's going on."

"Be careful," Nell said.

"We will." Kensi ended the video call and looked at her partner. "We need to go talk to them."

"Yeah. Excuse me!" He hailed a roaming bartender. "Hi, can we have two mai tai's please?"

"It's ten am," Kensi said skeptically.

"Something tells me this year's vacation is about to be a lot like last year's vacation," he said. "If that's how it's going to be, I need a drink."

* * *

A/N: Sooo...? What do you think? Is Sebastian a scum bag? Or is something else going on? Let me know your guesses in the reviews!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: We are finally getting to the good stuff! Answers will be revealed, more questions raised...you guys had some good guesses last chapter! Let's find out who's right!

* * *

One mai tai each later they headed back upstairs. "You're sure you're okay with this?" Kensi asked.

"I mean we have to do something," Deeks said.

"I know but we could just call HPD and let them deal with it. We don't have to let it ruin our vacation."

"Are you happy just letting HPD handle it?"

She was quiet and he smiled ruefully. "That's what I thought. You're not going to have a good time until we clear this up. And I won't either. So let's take care of it and maybe there will be five minutes of vacation left for us to enjoy at the end."

She reached for his hand and kissed him on the cheek. "You're a good man Marty Deeks."

"Only because of you Kensi Blye."

The elevator doors opened and they walked down the hall to their neighbors' room. The "do not disturb" sign hung prominently from the doorknob. Deeks pressed his ear against the door. "Do you hear anything?" Kensi asked.

"No," he said. "It's quiet."

Kensi knocked loudly. "Housekeeping!" No response. She knocked even more firmly. "We need to clean the room!"

"I—" Katrina's voice came through the door, "We're fine. We don't need anything."

"Katrina? Katrina it's Kensi, from next door."

The room was silent again. She looked at Deeks and he nodded encouragingly. She tried again. "Katrina we just want to help. If something's happened—"

The door opened and Kensi went inside immediately, afraid Katrina would close it in their faces if she waited. She had barely made it past the threshold when she stopped cold. The room was in shambles. Piles of papers covered both beds, which were unmade. Several chairs had been toppled and one was broken. The carpet next to the TV was dark with what looked like a blood trail.

Kensi felt herself automatically reach for her weapon, which, of course, wouldn't have fit in her bikini even if she'd tried. Deeks put a hand on her shoulder and she knew he was feeling the same thing she was: something bad had happened here.

Katrina had dark circles under her eyes and she trembled where she stood.

"We just want to help," Deeks told her.

She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "You can't. You can't help me."

"Katrina," Kensi took a step forward, locking eyes. "Deeks and I are in law enforcement. We can help you with this."

Katrina stared at them in confusion. "You said—"

"I know," Deeks said. "We really are here on vacation, but I work for LAPD and Kensi is a federal agent."

"If Sebastian is hurting you—" Kensi began, but Katrina's eyes immediately filled with tears and she shook her head.

"No, no, no," she said quickly. "You've got it all wrong."

"Okay," Deeks said. "Then tell us what happened? Where's Sebastian?"

"I don't know! They took him and they want this information and I can't find it—"

"Katrina slow down," Kensi said worriedly. "Here, sit down."

Katrina perched on the edge of one of the beds. "Who took Sebastian?" Kensi asked.

"I don't know!" she wiped her eyes and sniffed.

"Start with last night," Deeks encouraged. "What happened after we left dinner and came back up here?"

"We came into the room and started getting ready for bed. We spent some time together," she blushed a bit, "it got really late and Sebastian called down for extra towels. A couple minutes later there was a knock on the door. He opened it and they just came in."

"How many?" Kensi asked.

"Two of them. They were wearing masks. They," she choked on a sob. "They grabbed me and tied up Sebastian. They were hitting him, they said they wanted information. I couldn't stop them."

"Of course you couldn't," Kensi said, sitting down next to her. "What information did they want?"

"They kept asking for passcodes but I don't know what they're talking about. Everything we deal with is on secure servers back home. I'm trying to find something, anything, but—" She buried her face in her hands.

Kensi put a hand on her shoulder. "Did they say why they want them?"

"No! They just kept asking and asking and when we couldn't give them anything they took Sebastian and said I have twenty-four hours. That if I don't get them what they want they'll kill him." She looked up at Kensi. "What am I going to do?"

"We're going to help you," Deeks promised. "We're going to do everything we can to get him back."

He beckoned Kensi toward the door. "We'll be right back," Kensi told her reassuringly.

"So?" he asked, keeping his voice low.

"Not good," Kensi said. "If she can't get them what they want…"

"And we don't even know who 'they' are," Deeks said. "We have to call in the local PD."

"If we have locals pulling up in here they're going to know about it. They'll kill Sebastian on the spot. They knew which room to go to, they knew how to gain access quickly, we barely even heard anything and we were right next-door. They definitely have eyes on this place."

"I'll call Eric. Maybe he can pull some security footage." He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath of frustration. "We're done with vacations. Forever."

"I'll keep talking to Katrina, see what else she can remember." She squeezed his hand. "When this is over we're going down to the beach and drinking as many mai tais as the bartender will let us."

An hour later Kensi was wishing for the world's largest mai tai. Katrina was falling to pieces and Kensi hadn't been able to get much more usable information from her. Two men had entered the room. They were big. They wore masks. They wanted information and she and Sebastian had none to give.

Eric's video haul hadn't been much help either. The men avoided the cameras on their way up and down, taking Sebastian down a back stairway that lead behind the hotel where the cameras weren't working.

Nell had done more research on the company the two techs worked for which had given them a bit more background, but it still wasn't enough.

Deeks now found himself on the phone with Sam and Callen trying to persuade them not to jump on a plane. "Guys, we've got this," he said for the tenth time.

"No you don't," Sam said firmly. "You have no backup, no weapons, and almost nothing to go on."

"And we've done more with less."

"If you're not going to get local PD involved then we're coming," Callen said. "We're not having a repeat of last summer."

"Nobody's having a repeat of last summer," Deeks insisted.

"We're coming," Sam said and hung up the phone.

Deeks looked at Kensi and shook his head. "They're coming."

"Perfect. Next year we go to Antarctica. Nobody will ever think to find us there."

"Until we uncover a ring of penguin smugglers who are taking them off for illicit circus training," Deeks groaned and dropped beside her on the bed. "I give up."

They'd left Katrina next door and retreated to their own room where Kensi had finally gotten out of her bathing suit and into some real clothes. She'd then flopped down onto her back and was planning to stay there until she came up with a solution. "I just don't get it," Kensi said. "She can barely remember what they asked about; something about overdrives and passcodes. How could they possibly think Katrina could get them what they want if she doesn't even know what they're looking for?"

"I don't know. Maybe they're confused?"

Kensi sat bolt upright. "Oh my god."

"What?"

"They're not here for Sebastian and Katrina. They're here for us."

He stared at her. "Shit."

"We have to get out of here."

They both ran for the hall, banging on Katrina's door until she opened it. "Did you find him?" she asked, her face pale.

"We have to go right now," Kensi grabbed her arm and began pulling her toward the stairs.

"What? Why? What's happening?"

Deeks had his phone out and Kensi heard him start to talk to Eric. She wrenched open the door to the stairwell and ran smack into the barrel of a gun. She looked up to find a pair of cold, calculating eyes staring at her through a ski mask. "We've been looking for you."

* * *

A/N: So who called it? Darn those mixed up rooms! Any guesses on what will happen next?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Many of your questions will be answered! More will be raised! Read on friends!

* * *

There were two masked men in the stairwell, one with a semi-automatic weapon, the other with a Glock, both guns pointed straight at them. "Put the phone down Detective."

Deeks slowly lowered it from his ear. He could still hear Eric calling for him as one of the men snatched it away and smashed it on the floor. "I'll take yours too Agent," the first one said, holding out a hand for Kensi's phone.

She handed it over keeping Katrina behind her as she did so. "Whatever is going on here, you don't need Katrina for it."

"Well originally we didn't, but thanks to this fun little mix up, we're going to have to insist you all come with us. Quietly. Down the stairs."

Kensi pushed Katrina in front of her and Deeks brought up the rear, very aware of the gun barrel that was level with his spine. This wasn't as bad as last year's vacation; it was so much worse. Apparently the hotel staff members weren't the only ones confused about whose room was whose.

Katrina had gotten it wrong when she'd said they were looking for overdrives and passcodes. What they really wanted was the Overwatch passcodes. They were the only passcodes of any real value to someone outside of NCIS. Other systems required you to be physically at the Mission, but Overwatch was accessible anywhere.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and were shoved into the back of a van. The windows had been blacked out and when Deeks looked for the door handle he found it had been removed. He met his partner's eyes. Her face looked as grim as his own probably did. She had her arms wrapped protectively around Katrina who was sobbing.

One of their new kidnapping friends, the one with the semi-automatic, joined them inside, his gun trained on them as the van started to move. "Listen man," Deeks said, "whatever you want, you only need one of us. Let everybody else go and I'll give you what you need."

That was a lie of course, but he had to at least try. "Shut up," the man said.

"Okay, okay, just trying to help you out. Three people is a lot to handle and once we meet up with Sebastian there'll be four—"

The man leveled the barrel of his gun at Kensi's chest. "Talk again and I pull this trigger."

Deeks clamped his lips shut his mind running through the catastrophic damage a weapon like that could do at close range. They rode in silence for what he estimated was a half hour. The sounds outside the vehicle changed and he wondered if they were heading off into the Hawaiian wilderness. Isolation was not their friend.

At long last the van came to a stop and the engine turned off. He met Kensi's eyes and she nodded in understanding; this might be their only chance.

The door slid open and Kensi shoved Katrina to the floor. Deeks kicked the man who'd been sitting with them and he went flying to the ground, his weapon firing wildly into the air. Jumping down after him Deeks struggled to grab the weapon.

He heard Kensi yell behind him and turned. The air left his lungs. He stumbled back and looked down to find blood on his shirt. Kensi was on her knees, bleeding from a head wound, looking at him in horror. "Deeks!"

That was when pain finally registered and he felt himself falling to the earth. He'd been shot. Again.

Kensi had jumped out of the van after her partner and been immediately hit in the head with the butt of a gun. It was enough to make stars explode before her eyes and send her to her knees. She watched as the man who'd struck her shot Deeks in the chest and then gasped when he grabbed her by the arm. Katrina was gripped in his other hand and he dragged them both to their feet and toward what appeared to be little more than a shack. "He needs help!" she yelled, doing her best to twist from the man's iron grasp.

She and Katrina were roughly tossed to the floor and when she looked up it was to find a gun in her face. "Try anything and I'll kill her," he said moving it to point at Katrina who cringed away from him.

Kensi felt rage building beneath her panic. These assholes had managed to ruin not one, but two vacations and put two completely innocent people through trauma they would never forget, if they even made it out of here alive.

The door to the shed opened and the second man dragged Deeks inside, shoving him toward Kensi and Katrina. He groaned as he hit the ground. "Deeks, Deeks look at me!" Kensi moved so she was next to him, not caring what their captors thought as she inspected his wound.

"Ow," he moaned.

Blood was oozing from the hole in his right shoulder and she could see the stain spreading across his shirt. "If he dies, you will have murdered an LAPD detective," she said viciously. "They will hunt you down and they won't care if they take you dead or alive."

"Give us the Overwatch passcodes and he might live," captor number one said. "We'll give you a little time to think about it."

"Wait, wait! Where is my boyfriend? What did you do to him?" Katrina asked desperately as they closed the door.

"Deeks, hey, how bad is the pain?" Kensi asked as she pulled open his shirt.

"Not bad," he said breathlessly. "I've had worse."

"Take a deep breath." She rolled him onto his side and he let out a loud growl. "Okay, okay, I don't see an exit wound so the bullet must be lodged against your collar bone."

"Perfect," he said through gritted teeth.

Kensi looked at their neighbor who had gone silent. "Katrina. Katrina!"

Katrina turned blank looking eyes her way. "He's losing a lot of blood. I need you to find something to stop it. A cloth, tape, something that we can use to put pressure on it," Kensi told her.

Katrina was slowly shaking her head and Kensi could tell she was about to fall apart. "Katrina!" she snapped the name out hard and the other woman jumped. "Go. You can do it."

She nodded and moved to the other side of the shed, rifling through the shelves.

"You're lucky he only had a Glock," Kensi said grimly, using her hands to keep pressure on the wound.

"Lucky would be not having to worry about getting shot on vacation. Ah!" He groaned as she increased pressure.

"Sorry. This isn't too bad but we need to get the bleeding stopped. Katrina!"

"This is all I could find." She handed Kensi an old rag and some duct tape.

"It'll work." Kensi shoved the rag into Deeks' hand. "Hold it there and I'll tape it down."

He held the wad of fabric tightly to his own injury, his eyes squeezed shut. Kensi ripped off long strips of duct tape and pressed it firmly into place making a makeshift bandage. "Ow!" Deeks yelled. "Damn it!"

"I know, I know, just breathe all right? You're okay." She said it as much to reassure herself as him. "Katrina, you okay?"

"What are we going to do?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"We're going to get out of here," Kensi said firmly even as her hands trembled. She tightened them into fists and looked around the room, trying to drown out the panic coursing through her veins. It was a small shack with one tiny window high up on the wall. It had clearly been used for storage of some kind; there were empty paint cans, tarps, and old buckets lying around. "We need to look around for anything we can use. Rope or old tools, things like that."

She turned her attention back to Deeks who was breathing hard, sweat beading on his forehead. "You all right?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Just sit me up."

He moaned as she helped him lean against the wall. "Don't move," she ordered as she went to help Katrina with the search.

"Not a problem," he wheezed.

They didn't come up with much; a handful of rope, a few nails, and a trowel, but nothing that would give them a significant leg up on their captors.

The door flew open and both men stomped inside. Kensi got to her feet, putting herself between them and her injured partner and a terrified Katrina. "Listen, you've dragged us all the way out here, I think we deserve some answers," she said.

"The only person who's going to be answering anything is you," the first of the men said.

The both still had ski masks on but Kensi looked for differences in them, trying to get an idea of what they were dealing with. Both looked comfortable with their weapons and were well muscled, probably military trained. The second one was a little smaller and his gait was uneven, evidence of an old injury, the first clearly the leader of whatever the hell this was.

Kensi drew herself up to her full height. She would not show these men fear. "Then tell me what you want so we can get out of this mess."

"You are Kensi Blye, Special Agent for NCIS?" Number One asked.

"You already know that."

He looked around her to where Katrina stood. "Just making sure. We seem to have had a slight mix-up."

She scoffed at him. "You call taking two innocent people hostage slight?"

"And he's Detective Martin Deeks, LAPD?" He nodded toward where Deeks was curled against the wall.

"Present," Deeks said, still cheeky even when in pain.

"Well now you know who we are, how about introducing yourselves," Kensi said.

He ignored her. "Both of you have access to the Overwatch passcodes."

Kensi glanced at Deeks, trying to determine how to answer that. "Yes," she said finally. "As members of NCIS we have access to Overwatch."

"Well that should make this easy then. Like I said before. We want your passcodes."

"Why?"

He rolled his eyes. "Seriously? You think we're going to tell you why? Your interrogation technique needs work."

"Well so do your manners. Where's Sebastian?"

"Listen Agent, the longer you stall us the longer we keep you here. You two ladies will be fine, but I'm not sure about the detective over there."

Deeks looked pale and his breathing was more labored than before. She could see that the makeshift bandage she'd put on was growing dark with blood. She locked eyes with him and he shook his head, almost imperceptibly. She swallowed her fear for him and turned a fierce gaze on their captors. "I can't give them to you."

* * *

A/N: Draaaamaaaaaa! What's going to happen? Where is Sebastian? How will they escape the clutches of these evildoers? And will Deeks and Kensi ever attempt another vacation? Only time will tell!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: The adventure continues! How are they going to get out of this one? Read on!

* * *

Being shot and landing yourself in the hospital freaking hurt. Being shot on vacation and having your partner shove a dirty rag in your bullet hole was ten times worse. He would have given anything for the smell of antiseptic and a Jell-O cup right now, but unfortunately it didn't look like that would be happening in the near future.

Kensi was in a verbal standoff with the baddies, Ski Mask One and Ski Mask Two as Deeks was now referring to them in his head, but she could only keep them going for so long. They still hadn't said a word about Sebastian and as there was no sign of him in this shed, Deeks was worried that they'd already killed him, and that the rest of them were about to receive the same fate, himself probably sooner than the others if he kept losing blood at the rate he was going.

He was getting lightheaded and leaned back against the wall a bit more, letting his head rest against it. To his surprise it shifted a bit against his weight. He stuck his one good hand behind him and found that it was easy to dig away at the wood. Weather and insect activity had turned it soft and it was rotting away into nothing, practically falling apart as he touched it.

He kept his eyes on the rest of the group as he reached for the trowel Kensi had found, sliding it silently behind him, scraping at the wall until he had a sizable hole, making sure to keep it hidden behind his back.

He heard them asking Kensi for the passcodes, threatening all of their lives. Kensi looked at him, asking for confirmation that she was about to do the right thing. He shook his head; she couldn't give them what they wanted. Not even if it meant they were stuck here for a while longer.

"I can't give them to you," she said.

"I think you mean won't," Ski Mask One said, taking a step forward. "That's not going to work for us."

"Even if I did you wouldn't be able to use them. You have to be onsite at NCIS," Kensi lied.

SM1, Deeks decided to shorten the name, was already shaking his head. "You're lying Agent. Overwatch can be accessed from anywhere."

"Okay, that's true," Deeks said, wincing as he shifted against the wall. "But you won't be able to access it with just any computer. The tech you need is classified."

"As touching as your concern is, access to the technology is not a problem."

"Where would you have gotten tech like that?" Kensi asked suspiciously.

Ski Mask Two had apparently had enough because he stepped forward and grabbed Katrina who shrieked. "Enough questions. Give us the passcodes. Or she dies right here, right now."

"Oh come on, are you freaking kidding me?" Deeks put as much whine into his voice as he could.

Everyone's attention shifted to him. "What?" SM2 said, relaxing his grip on Katrina.

"Listen, whatever you guys are doing, just do me a favor and kill me now, okay?"

Kensi looked startled by that and he felt a stab of guilt. She was just going to have to jump on board with this plan because he was making it up as he went along. "I'm—what?" SM1 asked.

"If you had broken into an NCIS facility and stolen tech we would have heard about it by now. Which means someone gave it to you, which means we have a mole in the department and honest to god I cannot go through that again. So please, put me out of my misery because if we do get out of here alive, I really don't feel like going home and trying to clean up that mess," he said.

Both men had their attention on him now. Kensi had pulled Katrina from SM2's grasp and was edging closer to the door. He sent up a little prayer that she would somehow know what he was about to do, because he was about to either pull off the greatest escape in history or get them all killed.

"What the hell are you talking about?" SM1 asked.

"Seriously, you guys have no idea what it's like. You literally walk around everyday like, are you the mole? Are you the mole? You try to keep your back to the wall at all times so you don't get jumped from behind, poisonous plants show up on your desk, people end up the in hospital," he rambled.

"Is there something wrong with you?" SM2 stepped closer, raising his weapon.

"You would not believe how it all ended either. Although that's probably a longer story than you have time for."

Kensi was right next to the door now, her hand reaching up for the handle. "Shut up!" SM1 said. "The Overwatch passcodes. What are they?"

"None of your damn business," Deeks said loudly and with a huge effort heaved himself backward, breaking away what was left of the wall and shoving his body through it outside into the sunshine.

* * *

Her fiancé was insane. She watched as he shoved his body _through the wall_. Their captors dove after him, crashing into one another in a tangle of bodies and weapons, giving Kensi the opportunity to wrench the door open and drag Katrina outside with her.

She ran around the opposite side of the shed and caught Deeks at the back, running after him as fast as she could with Katrina in tow. "Are crazy?!" she yelled as they stumbled over rocks and roots.

"Can't breathe." He was gasping for air and his face looked grey. "Just run."

She could already hear their captors crashing through the trees behind them. They didn't have a very good lead. Katrina was clearly not trained for this kind of thing and Deeks was injured. They wouldn't be able to keep up this pace for long.

"This way," she hissed, pulling Katrina toward a particularly thick copse of trees and undergrowth.

Deeks followed and they pushed their way through the brush into a small, cleared out space. Kensi shoved brush into the space behind them, concealing them as much as she could. Katrina was shaking and Deeks was half lying on the ground, his eyes closed, brow furrowed in pain. "Okay," Kensi whispered. "Okay. We need a plan."

Deeks opened his eyes and the way he looked at her she knew she was going to hate whatever he said next. "Kens."

She was already shaking her head. "No. No, no, no."

"Kensi listen."

"I'm not leaving you behind."

"I can't keep up with you. Not like this. You and Katrina are going to go and I'll be a distraction. It will give you time."

She tightened her jaw. "You're bleeding too badly. If we leave you…"

"I'll be all right." He attempted a smile. "It's vacation. What could go wrong?"

She gave a short laugh as he squeezed her hand. "Apparently literally everything." She looked at Katrina. "I'm really, really sorry about this. You and Sebastian, you didn't deserve this."

"Just get me out of here and find Sebastian," she said.

"We'll do our best," Deeks said. He looked back at Kensi. "You good?"

She shook her head. "No."

"When we get out of this we are going to lie on the beach for days, drink every single mai tai in the entire hotel, and have so much sex. And then we're going to put our entire tab on Hetty's credit card because even though she's not here I just know this is all her fault," Deeks said.

She squeezed her eyes closed and blew out a breath. "I love you," she whispered.

"To the end of time and back," he said. "I'll see you in a little while."

He pushed himself up and staggered out of the brush. "Hey! Assholes!" Kensi heard him yell. "Passcodes are this way!"

She waited until the sound of crashing brush had faded away and then looked at Katrina. "Stay with me all right?"

"Okay," Katrina said with a nod.

Kensi got to her feet and they left their hideout behind, running for their lives.

* * *

A/N: Well they've made it out alive but...will they stay that way? Leave your love in the reviews!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: We're running toward the finish line friends, just like Kensi and Deeks are running for their lives. Hopefully we all get a happy ending!

* * *

They'd been running for a long time and they were still well and truly lost. Kensi had no sense of which direction the road might be and they hadn't even come across anything that looked like a marked trail, let alone any other people who might help them.

Katrina was flagging; her movements slow and sluggish and Kensi could only imagine what Deeks was up to. She tried not to calculate how much blood he'd probably lost at this point, tried not to picture him passed out on the ground, or worse, re-captured and at the mercy of two masked men.

Katrina stumbled and went to her knees so Kensi moved to help her up. Katrina pushed her away gasping for air. "I can't. I can't. Please. I have to stop."

"Katrina we have to keep going," Kensi insisted, her eyes scanning the area for any sign of movement.

"No, no I can't." She collapsed against a tree trunk.

"Okay, all right, we'll just rest for a minute," Kensi said, sliding down next to her.

The sun was starting to sink in the sky. Kensi checked her watch; it was after 5:00pm. If they didn't find help soon they were going to have to spend the night out here. She didn't know if Katrina could make it, especially since they were both starting to exhibit signs of dehydration. And Deeks would definitely be in bad shape the longer he was out here without care.

"Sebastian's dead, isn't he?" Katrina said, her voice lifeless.

Kensi closed her eyes. They didn't have time for this right now. "I don't know Katrina. There was no sign of him in that shed. They might have been holding him somewhere else."

"Or they killed him. That's what they said they would do. I didn't get them the information they wanted, so they killed him."

Kensi touched her shoulder. "Listen to me okay? I've been in more of these situations than you could imagine. Sometimes it turns out okay, sometimes not. But in the moment, you just have to think about surviving. We will worry about Sebastian when we get out of this mess. As soon as we get to the police they will have every, single person swarming this area looking for him. If he's out here, we'll find him. But we have to keep moving. Can you do that?"

Katrina bit her lip and nodded. "Good." Kensi surveyed the area trying to come up with her next move. That was when branches nearby began to rustle. Katrina looked at her worriedly. "Kensi—"

"Shh!" Kensi hissed. "Stay down."

She grabbed a hefty fallen branch. Not a great weapon, but if she took them by surprise, it might be enough.

There was more rustling, this time behind her and she spun around, wielding the branch with all her might as a man emerged from the brush. "Whoa! Hey!" he said, throwing his hands up.

She dropped the branch to the ground. "Callen?"

He stepped out from between the trees followed by several members of HPD. "Hey you okay?" he asked, holstering his weapon.

She shook her head, tears filling her eyes as he hugged her. Of all the ways she'd expected this to end, being rescued by their team hadn't even been on the list of possibilities. She didn't realize how tired and scared she'd been until she saw his face. She wasn't handling this alone anymore. "Okay, it's okay. Take a breath," he said quietly.

She wiped her eyes and he pulled away, holding her at arm's length. "Are you hurt?" he asked seriously.

She shook her head, swiping at her nose. "No, no I'm okay."

"What about this?" His fingers brushed over the gash on her forehead and she winced. "It's nothing. Callen it was two guys. They want the Overwatch passcodes. They're following Deeks. He's been shot. We have to find him."

"Deeks was shot?"

"In the shoulder. He's lost a lot of blood. And Sebastian, that's Katrina's boyfriend, he's still missing."

"Okay, just slow down. Hang on." He pulled out a radio. "Charlie team to Sierra team, come in."

"Go for Sierra." Sam's voice crackled back through the line.

"Sam I've got Kensi. She's got one other female with her and says there are two hostiles. Deeks is wounded and there's another male missing."

"Roger that. We're on the move. Getting close."

"Let us know when you make contact."

"Will do."

Callen tucked the radio back into his vest. "Let's get you out of here."

"I'm not leaving without Deeks."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you're not."

"Katrina should go. Can HPD take her?"

"No problem," he said.

She frowned at him, something dawning on her. "We're in the middle of the woods. How did you find us?"

He reached for her wrist and held it up. "Tracking device. In your watch."

She blinked at him, sure that her overheated brain was messing with her. "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope. After what happened last year we decided we needed a little insurance."

She punched him in the shoulder and walked away. "You guys suck."

"Ow! You're welcome!" he called after her.

She reached Katrina's side. An officer had given her a bottle of water and she had a damp towel on her neck. "Katrina, HPD is going to take you to get checked out. The minute we have any news about Sebastian I promise we'll let you know."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm going to stay here and help search. They'll take good care of you."

"Thank you," Katrina said. "For everything."

Kensi watched as they began walking her toward civilization. "Kens? You ready? We've got a lot of ground to cover," Callen said.

"Yeah." She walked toward him and then stopped short as her stomach clenched painfully. She bent double and puked her guts out on the ground.

"Okay, all right, take it easy," Callen said, grabbing her arm to keep her from falling over.

"I'm all right," she said, despite the fact that she was now shaking. "I'm good."

"What are the chances that you have a concussion?"

"Until we find Deeks, very slim," she said firmly. "Callen please."

He eyed her up and down critically and then handed her a bottle of water. "Drink this. All of it. If you pass out I'm not dragging you through this jungle. Can you keep up?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

A/N: So...WHERE IS DEEKS?! I know, I know, I'm a mean writer. My goal is to have this story complete by the end of actual summer on the 22nd, but I might not quite make it. Leave your love in the reviews!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So I didn't quite finish this by the end of summer, but I tried! Ah well. 't's the eleventh hour everyone! Enjoy!

* * *

He was going to die out here. The world had begun to swim before his eyes and breathing had become a painful challenge. Deeks staggered through the trees aware that despite the fact he was sweating from the humidity, he felt cold. He'd lost too much blood.

He hadn't heard SM1 or SM2 behind him in a long time, which was both a relief and terrifying. If they'd left him then it meant they might have gone after Kensi and Katrina. Kensi on her own might be able to evade them, but with Katrina in tow she was at a significant disadvantage.

He tripped over a rock and went sprawling to the ground. He felt his shoulder tear and had to stifle an agonized cry. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky.

He couldn't get up even if he tried, but he was too exposed lying out here. He pushed himself up and began dragging his body toward the protection of a rotting tree that had fallen on its side. He leaned against it and tried to catch his breath, but it refused to come out as anything other than agonized gasps. His body had become one, giant, throbbing heartbeat.

Vacation sucked.

"Deeks!"

He started. He must have blacked out because he could swear he'd just heard someone call his name. Someone who sounded a lot like Sam. But that was crazy. Sam wasn't here. No one was. Just him, dying alone in the woods on what was supposed to be a relaxing beach vacation. He was going to miss the beach. And Kensi. And being at the beach with Kensi.

"Deeks!"

There it was again. He was hallucinating, definitely hallucinating because now Sam was running toward him and that was completely impossible. "Hey, hey, Deeks look at me!" Sam commanded.

Deeks blinked. This was real. Sam was really there. "We didn't invite you," he said.

"Yeah that was an oversight on your part. Maybe if you had you wouldn't have a new hole in your chest. From now on we vacation together," Sam said as he pulled out his radio. "Callen I've got him."

"Not going on vacation anymore," Deeks said. "Too dangerous."

"I don't blame you. Somebody get me a pressure bandage!" he yelled as he ripped open Deeks' shirt.

"Hey, hey," Deeks said. "I have a fiancée."

"Now's not the time for your funny shit Deeks," Sam growled. "How bad is the pain?"

"Not…" he started to answer but the world went grey.

Sam barked his name, "Deeks! Wake up!"

Sam's face looked hazy and Deeks struggled to bring him into focus. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Stay awake," he commanded. "This is going to hurt."

He wasn't kidding. Deeks moaned out a stream of obscenities as Sam put an immense amount of pressure on his wound. "Breathe man, just breathe," Sam said as he worked.

The pain made his brain click back into gear. "Sam, Sam they're after Kensi," he gasped.

"Callen's got her Deeks. They're coming. Hang in there. What's the ETA on that helicopter?" he yelled to someone behind him.

"They want-" he moaned as Sam taped the bandage into place, "they want the Overwatch passcodes. And Sebastian. You have to find Sebastian."

"Deeks, I'm telling you, we're on it. Just focus on not dying all right?"

He must have blacked out for a while after that because the next time he opened his eyes he was flat out on the ground on a stretcher with no idea how he'd gotten there. His mouth was dry and it took him a long moment to figure out where he was at all. "Sam," he rasped.

"Chopper's almost here Deeks," Sam said.

"Deeks!"

He tried to raise his head, searching for the face that went with the voice that had called his name. "Kensi!" he croaked.

She dropped to her knees beside him, grabbing his face in her hands and kissing him as hard as she could. "Are you all right? Are you good?" she asked, brushing hair from his face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good. Is Katrina?"

"Katrina's fine. We're all fine."

"Good. Okay. Is it okay if I skip all those mai tai's and just mainline some morphine instead?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I think you've earned it."

* * *

Kensi sat next to Deeks' bed, waiting for him to wake up. They'd been choppered out of the woods and Deeks had been taken immediately into surgery to remove the bullet that had indeed lodged against his collarbone. It had gone well, but they were concerned about infection considering what he'd been up to for the last twelve hours.

She herself had a bit of a concussion and they'd bandaged up the gash on her head. Sam and Callen were still out, searching for their captors and for Sebastian, although Kensi didn't hold out much hope for the man at this point.

She rubbed a hand over her face. She'd have given anything for a shower but she didn't want to leave until Deeks woke up.

"Did you bring me a mai tai?" His voice was full of gravel.

"Sorry, no mai tais in the hospital. I can get you the finest jello in all of Hawaii though."

He opened his eyes and squinted up at her. "If mai tais are out I'm guessing the beach is too?"

"For today at least," she said.

"So, I guess that just leaves really amazing sex then."

She rolled her eyes. "How about you focus on healing the new hole in your shoulder and then we'll talk."

He looked down at the white bandages covering a good portion of his torso. "That looks like it's going to take too long. Let's just try it now. Live dangerously."

"I think we've had enough danger for one vacation."

His cheeky smile faded. "Sebastian?"

She shook her head. "No word yet. Katrina's here somewhere. They looked her over and she'll be fine. Aside from the many, many years of therapy she's going to need to deal with all of this."

"It's going to extra suck if something's happened to Sebastian. I feel really bad they got caught up in all of this," Deeks said.

"It's not our fault," Kensi said, trying to believe it. "We didn't start this. We did our best and we got Katrina out."

"I guess we did."

"Hey, you pulled off a pretty amazing escape back there," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "Now you see me, now you don't."

"Yeah I'm thinking of calling it a Harry Houdini with a Hawaiian Sunset. You caught on pretty quickly."

"Well I'm used to your crazy plans at this point," she said fondly.

"Knock, knock."

They looked up to see Sam and Callen entering the room, still in field clothes. "Hey," Kensi said, getting to her feet. "Did you find Sebastian?"

They looked at one another and Kensi felt her heart sink. "Actually we did," Callen said.

"He managed to escape and has been wandering around in the wilderness for even longer than you two. He's dehydrated but with a little time, he should be perfectly fine," Sam said.

Deeks snorted in disbelief. "All right then. Go Sebastian."

"Apparently he finally figured out they'd made a mistake and when he told them they left him while they tried to work out a plan B. They didn't lock the door and he got out. He's a tough guy for an IT worker," Callen told them.

Deeks shifted, trying to get more comfortable. "What about the assholes who started this in the first place?"

"In HPD custody," Sam said.

"What did they even want the Overwatch codes for?" Kensi asked.

"Apparently their boss is pissed off at Keenan Tambor," Callen said.

"He's on NCIS's watch list," Deeks said immediately.

"Exactly. Somehow they got word he'd been tagged for Overwatch and their boss decided it would be a great way to get what he wanted. Tambor's a slippery guy and this was their chance to get ahold of him."

"Well, glad we were able to save his sorry ass," Kensi said.

"Yeah I hope he's grateful," Deeks grumbled.

"Unlikely, but Sebastian and Katrina are extremely grateful for your help," Sam said. "They're coming by to visit as soon as Sebastian's been rehydrated."

"How are you two doing?" Callen asked.

"Don't we look well rested and tan? We are on vacation after all," Deeks said.

"Well you definitely look better than when we found you," Sam said. "Although that's not saying much."

"How did you find us anyway?" Deeks asked, furrowing his brow. "We were literally in the middle of nowhere."

Kensi glared at them. "They put trackers in our watches."

"And aren't you glad we did? Be sure to tell Eric and Nell thank you when you get home," Callen told them.

"You people are getting Hetty level crazy. I'm not sure we can be friends anymore," Deeks grumbled.

"Well maybe next time you go on vacation we _won't_ jump on a plane and fly across the ocean to save your ass' from whatever mess you find yourselves in," Callen said.

"We are definitely grateful," Kensi said.

"We're just glad you're okay," Sam said. "Really."

"We are too," Kensi told him sincerely.

He pulled her into a hug. "We'll see you guys at home."

"For sure."

They walked out and Kensi sank down next to her partner again. "So how long until they let us out of here?" Deeks asked.

"Well I'm free to go at any time. You're a hostage until they're convinced you're not going to develop an infection."

"Any chance of you breaking me out of here since I basically saved our lives today with my David Blaine act?"

She smiled at him and shook her head. "Not a chance."

* * *

A/N: Epilogue to follow soon!


	9. Epilogue

A/N: The epilogue is HERE! Summer is officially over :( I'll be crying and cold until next June, so enjoy this last little bit of sunshine! Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed and stuck with me this far!

* * *

"I'm going to have a bullet hole tan," Deeks said, fidgeting with the bandage covering his shoulder.

"Leave it alone or I'm taking you back to the hospital," Kensi said from where she lounged next to him.

"Well if you would give me something better to do with my hands…" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She was not amused. "Three weeks Deeks. The doctor said three weeks."

"Since when are we good at listening to authority figures?"

"If I get you a mai tai, will you stop?"

He grinned at her and he could tell she was rolling her eyes even though she had sunglasses on. "What am I saying? You're never going to stop," she said.

"And you don't want me to."

She sighed, but couldn't stop the smile that spread across her own face. "You are so annoying."

"But cute. Very cute."

"Your saving grace."

Deeks had been released from the hospital the night before and had insisted he was fine to spend the last two days of their vacation recuperating at the hotel. They'd visited Sebastian and Katrina before departing. Sebastian had looked a little worse for the wear but both were smiling and teary eyed as they thanked them for all of their help. It hadn't alleviated all of their guilt, but it had helped to see their neighbors safe and sound.

Now they sat on the beach, watching the waves and other tourists gallivanting around the resort. "Must be nice to only worry about things like weather and a crappy room view ruining your vacation," Kensi said.

"You mean normal people don't add contingencies about being abducted and running for their lives through the Hawaiian mountains as part of their vacation planning?" he asked.

"I don't think they do, no," Kensi said.

"Weird."

"Super weird."

He reached for her hand and they sat silently for a while, just soaking in the sunshine and reveling in surviving yet another horrendous vacation experience.

"I don't want to be this close to the water."

"You're a SEAL. SEALs are supposed to like the water."

"When you sit by the water you're more exposed. When you sit up farther you can see more of the beach."

"Who's coming after you on the beach? Seagulls with machine guns?"

Deeks and Kensi both sat up and turned around. "Oh you have got to be kidding me," Deeks said.

Sam and Callen were maneuvering themselves down the beach between the rows of chairs. Callen had sunscreen on his nose and Sam was wearing an extremely bright pair of board shorts while balancing a cocktail with a little umbrella in one hand. "I quit," Deeks said to Kensi. "No more vacations. We sit at home, in the dark, and if anybody knocks we shoot first and ask questions later."

"Hey guys," Callen said as they got closer. "Mind if we join you?"

"I thought you were going home," Deeks said as they sat down.

"Well we flew all the way here," Callen said. "And this hotel has really great reviews on Yelp."

"And you two aren't allowed to be out without adult supervision anymore so…" Sam shrugged and settled back into his lounger.

"Unbelievable," Kensi said.

"What's unbelievable is that you haven't offered to buy us a drink yet. We did save your lives after all," Callen said. "Again."

"I had the situation under control," Deeks said.

"If your definition of control is bleeding out on the ground with the bad guys closing in, then yeah, totally," Sam said.

"Hey! You didn't see my daring escape from the clutches of two of the baddest baddies ever to walk this island. I saved all our lives. Tell 'em about the Harry Houdini babe," Deeks said.

"That sounds dirty," Callen said. "We don't want to know what happened before we found you."

"Yeah whatever happens in your hotel room stays there," Sam said, slipping on a pair of sunglasses and leaning back.

"If you're invading our vacation it's your own fault if you get TMI about our private life," Deeks told them.

"It's a risk we'll have to take. You two are too important to lose," Callen said.

"Just pretend we're not here," Sam said. "We're like any other strangers on the beach."

Deeks looked at Kensi who shrugged. "It's not like we have a choice. They'll just track us anyway."

"We'll ditch the watches."

"We've got 'em in other places," Sam said.

"Places you have no idea about," Callen said.

"Okay I'm never apologizing for anything you guys accidentally hear or see again. You are way too involved in our lives," Kensi said.

"Again, you're welcome. Now if you don't mind, I have some reading to do," Sam said.

Kensi looked at her partner and he shook his head.. "Don't look at me. They were your friends first."

Hours, and many mai tais, later, they sat at dinner. They'd attempted several times to ditch their friends to no avail. It was a strange mix of annoying and adorable tending far more toward the former. They'd finally decided to head to seek food in an attempt to gain some semblance of alone time.

Kensi looked up to find Deeks watching her as she perused the menu. "What?" she asked.

"It's just that if I'm going to spend my vacations running through jungles and being shot, I'm glad I'm doing it with you."

She smiled. "Me too. Does that mean future vacations are back on the table?"

He reached for her hand and squeezed it. "Babe, wherever you go, I'm there."

"So are we," Sam said, from the next table over.

"Yep," Callen added.

Kensi and Deeks looked at each other and smiled. Maybe vacation wasn't so bad after all. Not if you did it with people you loved; even if they were extremely annoying and overprotective.

* * *

A/N: Happy Fall! See you soon for the SEASON 10 PREMIERE!


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